Thread by @Gwynnion

The problem with populists is they want to be popular, obviously, which inevitably means throwing the powerless and marginalized under the bus to appease the dominant ethnic or cultural majority.

Populists bristle at the concept of privilege because you're calling out their whole game, and they despise "identity politics," social justice, and intersectionality.

Populists in America neither care nor care to learn what's problematic about appealing to white conservatives to form a larger coalition.

Civil rights, abortion rights, LGBT rights. We're all disposable if it offends white conservative sensibilities.

Nevertheless, they call themselves "progressive" because they're furious with the financial institutions perceived to be holding them back specifically. Economic justice for white people! All other forms of inequality and social justice be damned.

Granted, "for white people" is the quiet part, usually. More often than not, it's "class not race" and "solutions for working people" or "all Americans" that inexplicably leave the racial and gender wealth gaps and institutional discrimination underpinning them alone.

Of course, populists and "progressives" tend to call themselves "socialists" nowadays, wrapping their resentments in revolutionary drag, but their fury is something to behold when you point out socialism doesn't cure racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia...

You see, that's entirely beside the point as far as they're concerned.